Enel Green Power Signs 160 Million Euro Loan for Wind Power in South Africa

The loan, supported by credit insurance from Euler Hermes, the German Export Credit Agency, will be used to finance the investment in the Gibson Bay wind farm. The plant’s installed capacity will be 111 MW.

Enel Green Power SpA (“Enel Green Power”), acting through its wholly-owned subsidiary Enel Green Power RSA (Pty) Ltd (“EGP RSA”), has signed a loan agreement for a total of 2,100 million South African rand (equal to about 160 million euros) with KfW IPEX-Bank, the latter as lender, sole lead arranger and agent, with partial credit insurance coverage provided by Euler Hermes (“Hermes”), the German Export Credit Agency.

The loan, secured by a parent company guarantee from Enel Green Power, is the first granted by KfW IPEX-Bank to the Enel Green Power Group. The agreement will provide EGP RSA with two separate lines of financing, with maturities of 7 and 17 years respectively, bearing an interest rate in line with the market benchmark.

The loan will be used to finance the investment in the Gibson Bay wind farm, located in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The plant will have 37 turbines with a capacity of 3 MW each, for a total installed capacity of 111 MW and capable of generating about 420 GWh of power a year.

Hermes’ institutional role involves supporting German component manufacturers, to which Enel Green Power has turned for plant construction and development.Enel Green Power is the Enel Group company fully dedicated to the development and management of renewable energy sources at the international level, with operations in Europe, the Americas and Africa. With an annual generation capacity equal to, approximately, 32 billion kWh from water, sun, wind and the Earth’s heat – enough to meet the energy needs of more than 10 million households, Enel Green Power is a world leader in the sector thanks to its well-balanced generation mix, providing generation volumes well over the sector average. As of today, the company has an installed capacity of approximately 9,600 MW from a mix of sources including wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass. The company has about 740 plants operating in 15 countries.